PhD in Veterinary Sciences for Animal Health and Food Safety

Contacts

Supervisor

Achille Schiavone

Phd thesis

• Scientific background/state of the art

Livestock farming is one of the main culprits of global pollution [1]. It impacts on the occupation of land, its erosion and above all the use of natural resources, such as the water required to cultivate crops needed to sustain the animal feeding sector.

Poultry represents the least impacting farmed animal for the environment, with an input of 0.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide compared to the 1.8 gigatons emitted by cattle breeding [2]. Furthermore, poultry meat represents a relatively cheap protein source compared to other farming systems, it has a high nutritional value and it is free from religious restrictions [3].

Alternative farming systems (organic, free-range) require birds presenting high adaptability, resilience and that can grow in a low-input farming system, consequently biodiversity is a key aspect. FAO stated that 55% of all native poultry breeds are found in Europe and the Caucasus regions [4]. In Italy, 22 breeds have been included in the Indigenous Poultry Register [5].

The sustainable use of local breeds in extensive systems represents an alternative practice to conventional farming [6]. Native breeds perform well in these low-input systems with better animal welfare and meat quality. The products obtained are officially recognized as traditional and usually sold as whole carcasses [7]. These properties contribute to the importance of valorizing local breeds and developing alternative farming systems with sustainability and animal welfare as a key aspect.

• Aims

The aim of the project will be to update previous bibliography on the topic of sustainability and low input poultry farming systems, focusing on reducing the use of soybean meal and identify new and innovative ingredients such as protein peas, fava beans, insects and others to be included in poultry feed.

The second aim will be to protect biodiversity, improving and expanding low-input and free-range farming systems in which these breeds thrive and present optimal adaptability thanks to their intrinsic resistance and resilience.

One of the main factors to focus on will be animal welfare; since local breeds presents longer (150 days) farming cycles it will be necessary to also guarantee adequate housing and management with environmental enrichments, which may allow the expression of their natural behaviours.

The chosen breed for the trial is the Bianca di Saluzzo, a Piedmont slow-growing dual-purpose breed, part of “Slow Food” production chain (project partner).

•  Materials and methods

The project focus is on exploring slow-growing local chicken breeds, identifying the most suitable farming practices, minimizing the environmental impact of feed, and researching dietary inclusions, such as alternative ingredients and black soldier fly larvae (BSFL). The aim is to promote sustainability emphasizing biodiversity conservation.

In the trial, 192 male Bianca di Saluzzo chickens (local slow-growing breed, SlowFood presidium) of 39 days of age were allotted in 24 pens (6 replicates/treatment) and assigned to 4 experimental groups:

1) Control (C), fed a commercial diet;

2) Alternative (ALT), fed an Alternative Diet (AD) (0% soybean meal);

3) DL, fed the AD diet supplemented with dehydrated BSFL;

4) LL, fed the ABD diet supplemented with live BSFL

BSFL inclusion was 5% of daily feed intake (DFI) on dry matter.

Live weight (LW) was recorded every three weeks, and daily weight gain, DFI, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) calculated. Larvae consumption time was recorded 3 days a week. Every 28 days the animals were video recorded, and welfare and behavioral tests were performed (fecal corticosterone, avoidance distance test, tonic immobility, feather condition score). At 147 and 174 days of age, 12 birds/treatments were slaughtered. Hot and chilled carcass and breast/thigh muscles weights were recorded, and the corresponding yields were calculated. Meat color and pHu₂₄ were recorded on breast and thigh. Breasts were put through a Near-Infrared scanner to screen for muscle abnormalities and estimate the protein content. Meat quality analysis will be performed by colleagues at NOFIMA (Norwegian Institute of Food Research). Organs and gut samples were collected and analyzed by prof. Capucchio. Stomach samples were also specifically assessed for chitinolytic activity by University of Almeria (Spain) colleagues.

Throughout the trial, the primary aim was to mitigate the environmental impact of the chicken diet. To achieve this, I conducted an analysis during my study abroad period at the University of Murcia in Spain, comparing the environmental impact of the two diets formulated for this trial. The analysis employed a life cycle assessment approach and was done using SimaPro software with the endpoints method, calculating their impact on four distinct categories: global warming, human health, ecosystems, and resources. The results were expressed as the impact of producing 1 kg of LW and 1 kg of ready to cook carcass on each category and revealed a significant overall reduction in environmental impact, with the alternative diet demonstrating an overall -33% decrease compared to the commercial diet.

Focusing on the larvae supplementation, the time spent eating both dehydrated and live larvae was overall around 3 min for both larvae type. The results of growth performance reveal differences between the groups in LW and DFI, with the birds eating dehydrated and live BSFL having higher final weights compared to C and ALT group (~+4%), while no differences were observed for FCR between groups. Finally, the enzymes exhibiting chitinolytic activity (endochitinase and exochitinase) showed increased activity in animals fed BSFL.

• Existing contacts with foreign Institutions (if available) for the abroad period

This PhD program is co-funded by the EU-PRIMA project “SUSTAvianFEED”, which includes partners from Spain (coordinator), Tunisia and Turkey.

The abroad period will be carried out in Spain, visiting the partner Entomo (Murcia, Spain) which will also provide the dried larvae for the experimental trial.

References

[1]  G. Grossi, P. Goglio, A. Vitali, and A. G. Williams, “Livestock and climate change: Impact of livestock on climate and mitigation strategies,” Anim. Front., vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 69–76, 2019.

[2] FAO, The future of food and agriculture: trends and challenges, vol. 4, no. 4. 2017.

[3] A. Mottet and G. Tempio, “Global poultry production: Current state and future outlook and challenges,” Worlds. Poult. Sci. J., vol. 73, no. 2, pp. 245–256, 2017.

[4] FAO, “The Second Reports of the State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture,” no. May, 2015.

[5] A. Franzoni et al., “Overview of native chicken breeds in Italy: Small scale production and marketing,” Animals, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 1–13, 202.

[6] D. Soglia et al., “Distinguishing industrial meat from that of indigenous chickens with molecular markers,” Poult. Sci., vol. 96, no. 8, pp. 2552–2561, 2017.

[7] M. G. Strillacci et al., “Genomic and genetic variability of six chicken populations using single nucleotide polymorphism and copy number variants as markers,” Animal, vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 737–745, 2017, doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731116002135.

[8] R. Tauson, J. Kjaer, G. Maria, and R. Cepero, “Applied scoring of integument and health in laying hens,” Anim. Sci. Pap. Rep, vol. 23, no. Suppl 1, pp. 153–159, 2005.

[9]  V. Ferrante, S. P. Marelli, P. Pignattelli, D. Baroli, and L. G. Cavalchini, “Performance and reactivity in three Italian chicken breeds for organic production.,” 2005.

[10] R. B. Jones, “Fear and adaptability in poultry: insights, implications and imperatives,” Worlds. Poult. Sci. J., vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 131–174, 1996.

[11] T. Veldkamp and T. G. C. M. Niekerk, “Live black soldier fly larvae ( Hermetia illucens ) for turkey poults,” J. Insects as Food Feed, vol. 5, pp. 1–12, May 2019.

[12] I. Biasato et al., “Black soldier fly and gut health in broiler chickens: insights into the relationship between cecal microbiota and intestinal mucin composition,” J. Anim. Sci. Biotechnol., vol. 11, no. 1, p. 11, 2020.

[13] M. Cullere, A. Schiavone, S. Dabbou, L. Gasco, and A. D. Zotte, “Meat quality and sensory traits of finisher broiler chickens fed with black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) larvae fat as alternative fat source,” Animals, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 1–15, 2019.

[14] A. Dal Bosco, S. Mattioli, A. Cartoni Mancinelli, E. Cotozzolo, and C. Castellini, “Extensive Rearing Systems in Poultry Production: The Right Chicken for the Right Farming System. A Review of Twenty Years of Scientific Research in Perugia University, Italy,” Animals , vol. 11, no. 5. 2021.

Research activities

The sustainability of intensive farming system is considered low, and the situation will worsen every year. The main phenomena related to intensive farming are deforestation, greenhouse gasses emissions, excessive consumption and pollution of land and water [1]. Another side effect of this process is the reduction of genetic variability and the consequent vulnerability of animals to environmental stress [2]. Poultry farming has a better environmental impact than other animal production chains thanks to the high efficiency in converting feed into meat or egg. The shorter production cycle and the strong genetic selection carried out to increase production performance represent an advantage over ruminant or swine farming. This is particularly evident in the poultry meat production, in fact, modern broilers reach slaughtering weights in short cycles of about 40 days with a high percentage of meat yield [3]. Unfortunately, in addition to all the benefits listed above these high-performance strains (HPS) show welfare and health issues, skeletal imbalances, metabolic disorders, and muscle abnormalities, which affect the appearance of the meat, nutritional traits, and acceptance by consumers [4, 5]. These are some of the main reasons why new sustainable and alternative farming systems need to be identified. However, poultry meat and egg production rely on these HPSs presenting major animal health and welfare concerns [6]. As a result, there is a growing demand in developed countries for poultry meat and eggs from welfare-friendly farming systems [7]. Alternative poultry production is more expensive than intensive, but supports biodiversity, animal welfare, local economies and the multifunctionality of farms, providing eggs and meat to which a growing part of consumers attributes high ethical value, quality and taste [8]. Alternative systems (organic, biodynamics, free-range) require birds adapted to less controlled environment, high foraging aptitude, active immune response, and thermo-tolerance. The response of chickens to alternative systems and to different climatic conditions have not been sufficiently investigated and only few commercial breeds are available for these rearing systems, HPS, unlike Local Breeds (LBs), are highly unsuited to this purpose [9]. Nowadays, the preservation of poultry biodiversity is a key objective in all developed countries [10]. The possibility of improving LBs originates from the balance between the possible benefits (good health and welfare, resistance and resilience to heath stress, lower dietary requirements, reduced veterinary cares) and other unfavourable aspects (low performance, low meat yield) [11]. Accordingly, an essential step is the improvement of production efficiency in LBs. Crossbreeding is the main tool used in poultry, which normally involves a cross between HPS and LBs, with the aim of combining the production capacity of the former with the latter adaptability to natural environment. Cross breeding also maximizes the expression of heterosis and normally improves fitness characteristics [12]. Moreover, since the current HPS are specialized in either meat or egg production and egg production requires only females, the male of egg-type strain, due to their slow-growth rate, are killed at 1 day-old. Ethical reasons exist against this practice and the use of dual-purpose breeds could be a solution to this issue: the males and the females of local breeds could be farmed for meat and eggs, respectively. An additional reason to safeguard LBs derives from their ability to produce meat and eggs in alternative systems, with low-input diets and with outdoor run that produce meat and eggs with higher welfare standards [13]. These aspects meet the attitude of consumer in developed countries where people can make an opinionated decision about their meal taking in considerations animal welfare, sustainability, nutritional, sensory, and ethical factors. It is obvious that, in most countries where poverty and hunger is widespread, HPS still represents a good opportunity to provide quite cheap high value food [14, 15]. Worldwide, conventional farming systems account for 67% of poultry meat production and 50% of eggs; an increase in local poultry farming is therefore feasible if supported by a productive and economic perspective [16]. The conservation of native breeds is also an important component of poultry biodiversity. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) stated that 55% of all local poultry breeds are found in Europe and the Caucasus regions [16]. In Italy 22 breeds have been included in the Indigenous Poultry Register and most of them are included in the FAO Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS) database [17]

[1]       FAO, The future of food and agriculture: trends and challenges, 4 (2017)

[2]       M. De Vries and I. J. M. De Boer, Livest. Sci., 128, no. 1–3, pp. 1–11 (2010) 

[3]       M. J. Zuidhof, B. L. Schneider, V. L. Carney, D. R. Korver, and F. E. Robinson,” Poult.       Sci., 93, no. 12, pp. 2970–2982 (2014)

[4]       R. Relić, E. Sossidou, A. Dedousi, L. Perić, I. Božičković, and M. Đukić-Stojčić, Ankara Univ. Vet. Fak. Derg., 66, no. 4, pp. 423–428 (2019) 

[5]       M. Petracci, F. Soglia, and C. Berri, pp. 51–75, Woodhead Publishing (2017)

[6]       A. F. Soleimani, I. Zulkifli, A. R. Omar, and A. R. Raha, Poult. Sci., 90, no. 7, pp. 1435–1440 (2011)

[7]       W. M. Muir, H.-W. Cheng, and C. Croney, Front. Genet., 5, p. 407 (2014) 

[8]       P. Parrot and K. Walley, in Poultry quality Evaluation, pp. 313–334 (2017) 

[9]       A. C. Mancinelli, M. Guarino Amato, D. Meo Zilio, A. Dal Bosco, S. Mattioli, C. Castellini J. Dairy Vet. Sci., 4, no. 4 (2017) 

[10]     A. Franzoni, M. Gariglio, A. Castillo, D. Soglia, S. Sartore, A. Buccioni, F. Mannelli, M. Cassandro, F. Cendron, C. Castellini, A.C. Mancinelli, S. Cerolini, A. Sayed, N. Iaffaldano, M. Di Iorio, M. Marzoni, S. Salvucci, A. Schiavone, Animals, 11, no. 3, pp. 1–13, (2021) 

[11]     H. Nurcahya, S. Darwati, and I. J. Tambunan, 1, no. 1, pp. 63–73 (2020) 

[12]     I. Hoffmann, Worlds. Poult. Sci. J., 61, no. 1, pp. 57–70 (2005)

[13]     L. Baldinger and R. Bussemas, Org. Agric., no. 0123456789 (2021)   

[14]     P. Rosa, B. Ávila, I. Angelo, R. Chesini, T. Fernandes, J. Camacho, M. Bugoni, V. Roll, M. Gularte, Br. Poult. Sci., 62, no. 3, pp. 387–395 (2021) 

[15]     F. Kaygisiz, B. A. Bolat, and D. Bulut, Rev. Bras. Cienc. Avic., 21, no. 4 (2019) 

[16]     FAO, “The Second Reports of the State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture” (2015) 

[17]     A. Castillo, M. Gariglio, A. Franzoni, D. Soglia, S. Sartore, A. Buccioni, F. Mannelli, M.     Cassandro, F. Cendron, C. Castellini, Alice Cartoni Mancinelli, N. Iaffaldano, M. D. Iorio, M. Marzoni, S. Salvucci, S. Cerolini, L. Zaniboni, A. Schiavone, Animals, 11 (2021) 

 

Publications

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